Posted on 11/16/2008 11:55:49 AM PST by Beeline
Since they began putting instant coffee in the MRE’s you don’t see bulk coffee around that much unless you are around a mess unit. When I was over their I bought a couple of jars of instant coffee to go with the instant packs that came in the MRE. Honestly though as much as I like real brewed coffee it is a inconvenience to brew it on the run.
Sounds like the name of a new band.
The bags of whole beans will end up at the Pentagon. Cookie in the field ain’t got a Braun ot Cuisinart grinder.
That was decidely not informative.
Yeah, I figure the officers will pick through what they want
as some of them may actually have an Espresso machine setup.
Then best case scenario, it goes to the Messhall where they grind it up and mix it with the Folgers and throw it in a percolater.
Its like buying a quart of milk for an 5,000 kid orphanage, they are better off with a money donation.
Coffee is being fazed out as a freebie in many places.
My last 8 years in the Air Force was stateside (retired in 2002) coffe was not readily availible by 1999. If we wanted it, we had a to pay for a coffee fund or bring our own.
Troops returning from the Sand Box complained about the food a lot, but coffee was still availible, but it was very bad. Most of the troop were used to better premimum blends and cooking styles and some paid good money to get SB coffee beans in theater.
I know of more than a few about-to-deploy troops that found unbreakable coffee presses to take and one Captian was talking about taking his portable esspresso machine.
(By the time most Air Force troop got there, they even had AC, hot showers, hot food and secure camp.)
Even old time Army and Marines agreed. Gulf War2 was far nicer to the troops than Gulf 1.
The face of was changed.
Sam’s club carries coffee called “Patriot Blend.” A 2lb. bag is about $8. They send coffee to the troops and the company is in California!
We adopted a soldier a while back who asked for gourmet coffee. He had a coffee maker in his hutch. I guess it all depends on where they are and what kind of set-up they have.
That’s surprising. Seattle as a whole hasn’t been known to support the military. Seattleites are known to protest anything to do with military even though it’s surrounded by at least 3 large military bases. Wonder what would happen if the military pulled out of Seattle altogether?
I’m pure store brand coffees, nothing gourmet for me. Is Egyptian coffee supposed to be good?
To my knowledge, they have no special program for the troops, but maybe if enough folks ask for one they will start one up. They will ship to APOs but you have to call the order in.
Otherwise, you can order it whole bean or ground, and ship it in care packages.
I am like you, store bought is just fine for me as long as it is whole bean 8 O'clock.
Makes sense to me.
Funny I drank coffee pretty much every waking hour when I was on ships. Now that I'm retired from the Navy I hardly drink it at all.
When I did my deployment to Qatar in 2004 at Al Udeid AB,
We had a coffee pot in the tent/office and it was fed with care packages from the units of the people who were assigned to our rotation and the previous rotations. We had Starbucks, and several other specialty coffees. in the four months I was there.. I had to go to the BX once to get a small can of Folgers so we could enjoy a morning pot. Due to the high temps during the day.. it was a one pot a day kind of thing between four people.
But if you went to the base chapel Annex, there was always four or five pots of coffee. Seatles Best, Starbucks and the like was the fare there. It was nice to go into the air conditioned trailer, kick back and read and have a cup of coffee.
It might not sound like much. But those kinds of things make deployments bearable. I occasionally buy a bag in a program to send to the troops. Not every time I go shopping.. but at least once a month.
A good friend of mine is doing this at Starbucks. Her boyfriend is in Iraq (he doesn’t even like coffee) but she sends it to him and he makes sure it gets to the “boys”. (and girls too!) She has a picture up at the local Starbucks of “Santa” passing out the latest packages that were sent over.
I can assure you - the coffee IS making it to its intended recipients because of angels like my friend who take the time to organize campaigns like this and puts money out from her own pocket to ship the coffee over. This is being done individually by loved ones at the stores - not by corporate.
If given the opportunity to donate - please do. Sure the coffee is over-priced, but there is nothing like a taste from home.
Yes, this is a nice gesture for troops who don’t get good coffee.
But there is some kind of tax benefit for doing this right?
Don’t tell me there is no benefit to them because if they truly cared, Starbucks would just send over thousands of pounds out of the goodness of their heart because they can surely afford it more than my wallet. Besides the extra revenue they make from selling you more coffee. It’s like that impulse buy when you’re in line at Fry’s Electronics or any other long line. Except more forced, and more guilt-trip scenario.
I wish I was there for the coaching session on how to sell more bags of coffee sent to troops.
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